I need one of those cheap laser pointers. Preferably one that is fairly short, uses common batteries (AA or AAA), and is inexpensive.

Application: I want to chuck it up in my drill press, tape the switch down, and use the beam to align what I want to drill. Once aligned, I can clamp everything down, replace the pen with a bit and viola! Easy and accurate drilling!

I'm looking for something in the 10 to 20 dollar range so if anyone could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.

Go to Wal-Mart and spend $20 for one of their "air pistol" lasers--it's got a on-off switch (pressure-pad screws in place of the on-off switch) a base with screw holes you can mount it with and it's already got X-Y adjustment built in it too... ~

I have one of the Radio Shack jobs that I use to play with my cats. I just measured the barrel and it is 0.495". Be sure your chuck is big enough before you buy one. Also, I'd be very carefull when chucking the laser, it is very thin aluminum and it won't take much to screw it up.